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August 15th is a very significant date in the history of film…for two reasons. We’ll cover them here in order by date, but both are, no doubt, some of the most memorable advances in movies and storytelling.

On August 15, 1934, director Christy Cabanne (The Mummy’s Hand, Scared to Death) released the first audio-visual film adaptation of Charlotte Bronte‘s famous novel Jane Eyre. Excluding the popularity of the novel, the film was part of a series of classic-literary adaptations produced by Monogram Pictures between 1933-1934. Four classic 19th-century novels were all made into big-screen adaptations that featured sound, a new technology for the era. The novels were Oliver Twist, Black Beauty, Jane Eyre, and The Moonstone. Cabanne was well-known at the time as a silent film director, but was also beginning to indulge in sound-projects. For the movie, which only runs a total of 62 minutes, the studio recruited actors Colin Clive, best known for the role of Dr. Frankenstein in the original 1931 James Whales’ classic, and newcomer Virginia Bruce (Born to Dance, The Invisible Woman) to star as Jane Eyre. Oscar-nominated screenwriter Adele Comandini (Beyond Tomorrow, Three Smart Girls) to adapt Bronte’s novel for the film (which admittedly must have been a challenge considering Jane Eyre runs for a total of 38 chapters with 400+ pages in most publications).

Also on August 15th, but in 1979, Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, The Conversation) released his world-renowned masterpiece, Apocalypse Now. The film is famous not only for its cinematic brilliance, but also for its whirlwind of a production Continue reading →

Here we have a new teaser trailer for the upcoming Oliver Stone (The Doors, Born on the Fourth of July) biopic on NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. The film is appropriately (and simply) titled Snowden and stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises) in the title role. While production has been underway for on the project for sometime, one would expect to see at least a 10-second clip of actual footage, but with this teaser all you really get are some words outlining highlights of Snowden’s life and a clever phrase to top-off the 86-second clip (even though “One Nation, Under Surveillance” is pretty clever considering the subject matter). Also starring in the film are actors Shailene Woodley (The Fault in Our Stars, Divergent), Melissa Leo (The Fighter, Prisoners), Zachary Quinto (24, Star Trek: Into Darkness), Tom Wilkinson (The Patriot, Rush Hour), Rhys Ifans (Anonymous, The Amazing Spider Man), and Nicholas Cage (Con-Air, National Treasure). The movie is scheduled to open in theaters on Christmas Day, right alongside Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight. We’ll keep an eye out for additional trailers as they come out. Stay tuned!

Director Shane Black is still filling out the remaining cast spots for his upcoming LA-crime thriller The Nice Guys, which already has Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March, The Place Beyond The Pines) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator, Man of Steel) attached to star in the film. The story follows a private detective and his muscle-head partner (both practicing alcoholics by-the-way) in 1970s Los Angeles who investigates the suicide of a porn-star only to discover her death will uncover a massive conspiracy leading all the way back to the American automotive industry. The script comes from screenwriter Anthony Bagarozzi and director Shane Black, who has also recently added actor Matt Bomer (Flightplan, Magic Mike) to the cast list, according to Deadline. Other names currently attached to the project are Margaret Qualley, Daniel Lee, Angourie Rice, Cayla Brady, and David Born. The movie is currently scheduled for release in June 2016, so we’ve got some waiting time before we actually see a trailer or set-pics, but stay tuned for more news!

Veteran Bay Area rap duo Latyrx will be live at the Cabooze tomorrow. These guys have been doing their thing for quite some time now, they’ll be joined by Lyrics Born & Lateef The Truthspeaker as they continue their tour across the country. Minneapolis’ own Greg Grease & Phillip Morris will be opening up for the group, rounding out what should be an awesome night. This one’s 18+ and tickets are $15 ($18 at the door), if you’re looking for something fun to kick off this weekend; look no further. Click the link below for tickets.

Tim Burton is once again working with Michael Keaton to on the long awaited sequel to Beetlejuice. While the movie is still very early in production, Burton and Keaton will also be celebrating one of their other collaborations. The two worked together with Jack Nicholson in 1989 on Batman, the first modern take on the comic book series since Adam West in the 1960s. The two also went on to make a sequel two years later which also starred Danny Devito and Michelle Pfeiffer. Also celebrating their 25 years this year are The Abyss, Field of Dreams, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Major League, Glory, and Born on the Fourth of July. If you get any free time be sure to check some of these out, and stay tuned for more news on Burton’s Beetlejuice sequel.

Oliver Stone has developed a well known reputation as a director who sticks to real-life influence. He has brought such films as The Doors, JFK, Nixon, Platoon, Alexander, and World Trade Center to the big screen, and won the Oscar in 1990 for Best Director for Born On The Fourth Of July. So it’s no surprise that his next project would be a biopic about the late Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr., potentially starring Jamie Foxx in the lead role as King. Foxx proved himself an agile and noteworthy actor in 2004 with his portrayal of Ray Charles in the biopic by Taylor Hackford, and with the King family supporting the film (much as Ray Charles and his family was behind the Taylor Hackford project), Stone may get to make his movie sooner than he thought. Several attempts have already been made to get a King biopic underway, including a film from The Bourne Ultimatum and Captain Phillips director Paul Greengrass, but stories and plot lines have been rejected and the King family is clearly more in favor of a film that shines a positive light on the famous figure instead of a script that may be more “honest” in some aspects of his life. I’ve never been a huge fan of Stone’s films, but Foxx would make a good choice to portray King. Forrest Whitacker’s name has also been tossed around, so we’ll see what happens.